In a variety of applications of practical importance, conductive plastic parts are utilized in electronic assemblies. Thus, for example, conductive plastic parts are often employed for grounding, static discharge and electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding purposes. Typical parts made of conductive plastic in electronic assemblies include grounding grommets, conductive gaskets, flexible grounding straps, protective boots and face-plate panels for circuit packages. A specific illustrative example of such a face-plate panel is described in a copending commonly assigned U.S. patent application (Ser. No. 08/988,517, filed Dec. 10, 1997).
In the cited application, a two-part unitary panel comprises an electrically non-conductive rigid plastic part combined with an electrically conductive plastic part that serves as a flexible gasket. The panel is utilized to seal an opening in an electronic assembly to reduce the passage of EMI through the enclosure opening.
For the above-specified and other applications, workers skilled in the art have continued to try to develop improved conductive soft-durometer plastic materials. In particular, these attempts have been focused on developing improved conductive plastic materials that can be molded into complex geometries, that are relatively economical and that are recyclable. It was recognized that these efforts, if successful, could reduce the cost and improve the performance of electronic assemblies that include plastic parts made of such materials.